shecyclesolo

Day 76 1004 days to go. Distance today 37km total 4430km. Its 7.15pm Tuesday 14/2/2012 Cuc Phuong National Park. My partner and I aren’t into Valentine’s Day so much but for those who celebrate the love I hope you shared it with a loved one. We reckon everyday is valentines day and rightly so hey Darling xo. Day 2 with a little education and lots of cool adventure yay. I woke again to the gibbons going off love that sound it’s such a distinct call. It wouldn’t be hard to work with these crazy swinging singing critters that’s for sure. Breaky in bed then up to check out the Information Centre for what I could find out about the Park in particular the caves before heading out to explore them some more. From what I read Limestone forms on top of sea beds and Karst mountains are formed when colliding Earth’s plates push the limestone up into peaks. As such it’s a common phenomenon to find marine fossils in the rock formations. Rain penetrates the rocky terrain and over time dissolves the limestone creating caves and underground streams that continue to erode to a network of caverns and water supply. The water escapes in springs and a major source for the local tribe people for agriculture, power and domestic use. Ancient people lived in these caves dating back 12000 years ago. One of the caves I visited was excavated in 1966 where artifacts such as stone axes, bone spears, oyster shell knives, pestles and tombs were removed. It seams the people lived and buried their dead in the caves in rituals according to primitive religious beliefs. All very interesting. The information centre was full of cool stuff allot about conservation. Many of the 50 000 people that live in or about the park are dependent on natural resources for their survival. At the same time exploitation of wildlife and forest products such as timber and firewood for selling in local and regional markets seriously threaten the park. Law enforcement by park rangers has traditionally been the means to reduce the problem however in recent years there has been a more progressive conservation strategy implemented that better respects tribe folk and their traditions. The strategy also uses education, economic alternatives, and biological monitoring. For example home stays with the Muong people are amongst the experiences offered by the park with the money going direct to the community and bee farming is practiced in villages to supplement incomes. Research continues to monitor the health of the forests. Did you know the amount of butterfly species reflects the forest’s health. Research has identified nearly 300 species of butterflies native to Cuc Phuong. How cool and exciting is that? As a regular ‘butterflyer’ of sorts I have a huge soft spot for them. I saw heaps in the tree canopy from the observation tower yesterday. My partner and I were climbing partners before dating and I have this vivid memory of us watching butterflies on top of Frog Buttress in Beaudesert,Qld. I don’t want to bore you with too many facts but promising stuff for the future of this beautiful area. So I headed off with a bit more local knowledge and head torch on board to hit the caves. It’s a bit unnerving to step into a dark expanse just you and your head torch. I was a bit frighties but braved it and loved it once I got a sniff of adventure. The caves were amazing. The first one was where they have excavated signs of ancient folk from 12000 years ago. Incredible!!! There was a ladder that took you up to a higher level. When the light hit the rock I thought it was ‘fools gold’ with the glimmering effect. But when you got up close it was actually water droplets coming out of the rock. The droplets sparkled like diamonds. It was breathtaking. I sat there for ages digesting the delish factor. There was a solo bat swooping about the ceiling and my head. That’s another sound I love!! The cave continued for about 50 meters with lots of nooks and rock formations to explore and take pictures. The camera worked well just off the light from torch. I came across a rock spider who posed her eight sets of smile lines for the camera 🙂 I returned to the cave entrance and enjoyed a coffee and some more poetry writing which I’ve added to the post. The entrance is now a shrine with incense, fruit and flower offerings laid. The next cave had a more remote feeling if that’s the word. No shrines just a jagged rocky opening that you stepped into a bit like an abyss. It was a weird feeling and more unnerving than the other. It went deeper for about 100m and again once I settled it was really exciting to explore. The photos are cool but they don’t capture the size of the cave halls. It’s incredible to squeeze through an opening and into a cathedral of cave formations and layered terraces. Minerals have leached to stain the rock in places and the colors are earthy and unique. The silence inside the caves is deafening. It’s bizarre to hear absolutely nothing just drops of water which amplifies in the large cave halls. When you walk on rock my footsteps resonated and made a hollow sounding echo. Near the entrance there was a chunk of rock embedded in the wall with seashell fossils. They came up well on the photo. I’m very glad I decided to take the extra day. I have never experienced something like this before and it was thrilling. What an exceptionally cool way to christen the head torch. It was still cloudy today but lifted a little so I got some more pickies of the landscape and forest. Walking out of the last cave I came across a ‘sinkhole’ which I read about in the info centre. Off track you have to be very wary and careful of these ground openings that drop into underground chasms. These more remote walks are only allowed with guides and I can see why. Staying on the well trodden path there’s no danger of course and this one was just off to one side. I got back again to camp on dusk and did some sorting of my stuff to head in the morning. I’ve had such a great couple of days. It’s been relaxing with very cool and new stuff to check out. It’s exciting for Vietnam, the environment and it’s critters, to have such a successful program happening here and setting the standard for more conservation programs. Very positive stuff I love it!!! Thank you Cuc Phuong. It’s been a treat and a pleasure. Talk soon x

Come play in my cave
My home and grave
Where I played
10 centuries ago.

We had a fine home
With tools of stone
Where I worked
10 centuries ago

We buried our dead
In caves overhead
When I died
10 centuries ago

I still watch over
Come see traveler
Where I live
10 centuries on.

Day 75 1005 days to go. Distance: today 38km total 4393km. It’s 7.40pm Monday 13/2/2012 Cuc Phuong. Oh my goodness have I had an awesome day. This place is one inspiring beautiful treasure doing very good stuff for the environment and education about the issues. A 10hr sleep last night was a pretty good start to the day 🙂 I headed up to reception and booked in a guide of the Endangered Primate Rescue Centre. It was a highlight of the day and nice to give the centre $.2.50 (50 000 dong) to help the cause. The centre has around 150 primates in stages of care and reintegration to the wild. There are different species of gibbon and Langurs which have been rescued from illegal trade mostly to china. Apparently the monkey’s brain is made into chinese medicine for the human brain a practice that still goes on despite being illegal. There’s two main stage areas one initial high care facility the next a forested enclosure where the animals live quasi natural readying for reintegration. If possible the monkeys are then released into the national park for another go at it in a protected area. The forest here has 2000 species of trees, 122 species of reptiles and amphibians, 336 bird species and 135 mammals including leopard, langur and asian black bear. It’s all limestone karst country heavily forested. The magnificent limestone mountains rise from the green rice terraces and stilt homes of the Muong hill tribes that still live traditionally in the area. It’s beautiful!!! This time of year sees mostly clouded and foggy days but today no rain just the misty atmosphere. I woke this morning to the sound of gibbon calls. It’s hilarious. One starts then it’s all in and then silence again. It’s a whoop sound that turns up and gathers in numbers then stops abrupt. It’s mating season so they’re going off particularly so at feed times. Gibbons have no tails but long arms and are swinging champs. They have no fur on their faces and very intelligent and evolved. The males are black and the females orange. Langurs on the other hand are shyer with a huge strong tail. I watched both today with awe and giggles. It’s a special thing the centre provides giving these cheeky creatures another chance with brain intact to get on and do their monkey business 🙂 The guides here are from the local villages. They speak some English and the language of the Muong tribe folk different to Vietnamese. They do allot of education at schools in the remote villages educating the tribe folk on environmental protection issues. They target mostly the children and have to hike on clear days 10 to 15km as there are no roads to their locations just trails then hike back all in a days work. I asked them about their working hours. They do 8 hour days 8-11am then go home to have lunch with their family and back again for 1-5pm. If it’s peak season they will work through the day without a break. They have 12 days of annual holidays. Both guides live in a local village with their extended family. After this I headed off to check out the park. It’s a 19km road to the centre park area. It’s very hilly as you can imagine through this countryside but the ride was just beautiful. Thick lush rainforest with critters and birds rustling in the tree line by the road. I firstly stopped at an observation tower on-top a 300m karst hill. The tower was another 20m ladder climb very cool. The view although cloudy was magical all misty sitting amongst the treetops with the birds and gibbon echoes. I sat there for over an hour taking picks and doing some poetry writing which I’ve included. I’m a bit rusty but it’s good to get back into it and what a place to start. The two places you can go without a guide are the 1000 year old tree and Palace cave and the Cave of the prehistoric man. Both caves need a head torch to check out properly so I’m staying another day to do just that tomorrow. To be able to independently explore two caves is far too tempting and no reason not to succumb yay. From what I got a taste of today it’s going to be amazing so can’t wait. A man from the UK arrived with his guide when I was at the cave. He lent me his torch to have a quick look and that sealed it for me to stay another day for a further head torch explore. The 1000 year old tree was amazing, huge and grand and I loved every moment taking in it’s age and size and mystic. What that tree must have seen in its years hey? I took some really cool pickies especially for my partner to share the experience xxxxxx. It was a 8km circuit to the tree and cave and I couldn’t help myself to trail run it. It was such a great single trail across the limestone country very much like our glasshouse mountains but less exposed. It still has the same inclines but its been mostly stepped so it was very civilized with little scrambling. I haven’t run for ages and loved loved loved it. I’ve still got the buzz 😉 The descents were big fun as was the whole day. I arrived back at the park centre and campsite just before dark so the forest birds kept me company the cycle home. Yep dam fine day did I say dam fine chuck another dam in for dam good measure. This place is a gift and I can’t wait to treat myself to one more day. For now but it’s 8.30pm and I’m hungry after the day’s frivolity. I must look so bizarre to the park staff. I needed to recharge the Ipod and found an external powerpoint on the closed gift shop as well as table and chairs that had been put away for the night. Don’t mind if I do!!!! The restaurant staff were happy to top up my flask so I’ve had a cool pre-dinner post to you fine folk. Time now for calories. Talk soon x PS I sent another spot check to let the family know I’m still here and will do the same tomorrow. I’ll head to Hanoi on Wednesday morning.

You ease the restless
Out of breathless
Passer bye the heart.

You calm the conflict
With the postscript
‘Listen to the heart’

I hear the gibbons
They’ve forgiven
Chance anew for hearts.

The Cuc Phuong song
A sweet sing along
Stronger in-tune hearts.

Day 74 1006 days to go. Distance: today 91km total 4355km. It’s 7pm Sunday 12/2/2012 Cuc Phuong National Park. I got here, I go here, I got here!!!!! Sooo happy. I made sure the spot tracker was on it’s full 20minutes so to share in this place. Getting here was a treat. Talk about riding blind. On route I was kinda wishing I had taken more notice of the ‘getting to/from” section when I checked Cuc Phuong National Park on the internet. Oh well! Lots of stopping and asking directions and distances which is always a good thing and fun and I’m here. It was still quite a way to go once I left the National highway on road 12B just after Tam Diep at 3pm, 33km to be precise. Not far in retrospect but when you have no idea of distances, terrain and time it’s a long 33ks. The people were fantastic but. Small small villages very welcoming with lots of waves, smiles and hellos. Their directions were great distances not so. The first fella said 5km to go and 5kms down the track the next fella said 15kms. Bugga oh well. He ended up being pretty spot on. The scenery was great, all karst country very remote with small villages dotted along the quiet road. I was picturing which house I would come back and ask if I could stay if the road didn’t end up popping me out at the park entrance and stocked up on some water at a tiny shop just in case. The old woman at the shop was under 4 feet tall hunched over all smiles and red stained teeth that I haven’t seen since laos. I wish now I had taken photos but I was pretty distracted and a bit anx about getting here before dark. The road spat me out at the park entrance at 5.15pm and I let out the biggest cheer it gave Rube a fright 🙂 The road t-junctioned with a major road that was sign posted Hanoi 120km so that’ll be the full days ride when I head that way. I had incidentally taken the back road here but now that I’ve arrived the ride in hindsight was just beautiful and such a stark contrast to the highway. The traffic continued to be nuts leading up to the turn off. I lost count of the amount of times I got pushed off the road by the trucks and buses. I didn’t know Rube knew such colorful language. I wonder who she learnt that from 🙂 Despite the traffic but it was a real interesting ride. Lots of rice fields as usual but the weather was really foggy with no rain in it yay so it gave the scenery a misty mountains feel. I stopped heaps for photos and just to take it all in which was great. Prior to the turn off we went through the start of limestone karst but the area was full on mining and again interesting to check out. I spotted this woman at one stage up high on this cleared area pulling out the roots and shrubbery before the dozers could get in to do their part. You could hardly see her and I only noticed her because of her movement against the stark hill. The roadside stalls alway reflect what’s being farmed or in this case mined. They were selling all shapes and sizes, polished and raw limestone rock. The towns between were full of such interesting french architecture that I got some good picks of. It was a real mixed and interesting day that I’ve enjoyed heaps and to end up here is a total icing. I didn’t expect to be here until tomorrow so It’ll be great to wake up and get into it. I’m camping in the grounds for $2 per night. I’ll probably stay 2 nights to enjoy the day tomorrow and head early Tuesday morn for Hanoi. What a contrast the city will be after a couple sleeps here. It’s so nice to be camping as opposed to a guest house. Ive missed it so much. Tomorrow I want to go check out the monkeys in care while they recoup from the hands of poachers. There’s also a 8km walk you can do to a 1000 yer old tree for flora junkies. That’s especially for my partner who loves trees. Apparently the parks great for cycling so Rube and I will enjoy having a look around at some stage. It’s just wonderful to be here, camping and amongst nature. I set up the tent and it was so musty I tried to recall when I last used it then remembered it was in Laos the night the police man put us back on the road for a midnight cycle to be ‘safe.’ That seems like forever ago so it’s about time it got aired and used again. What a beautiful place to do just that. Here’s hoping the rain stays away but we’ll see as odds aren’t in our favor. It’s bickies and pepsi for dinner after eating 2 fresh baguettes over the course of the day. We passed a supermarket early on and I stopped for some fresh bread and it was straight out of the oven crusty on the outside and fluffy on the inside and just yum. Tonight I’ve popped up to the small cafe to do my post. It cost a million dollars for the soft drink but who cares. It’s a nice possy to post and I haven’t had a soft drink for yonks it’s a treat and delish. I’ve christened my new head torch tonight already setting up the tent. It’s terrific ma and pa thank you so much xx. There’s two pooches hanging around the cafe and they keep checking out my bickies when I grab one and the paper rustles. Reminds me of a certain two other pooches at home that have very keen ears for tasty snacks in crinkly foil. The folk inside the stall are playing a card game. Cards are so popular here. I often past roadside stalls or shops in towns or folk just sitting outside their homes playing cards in groups and right into it. I confess I’m not a cards fan but they seem to love it. They’re letting out allot of animated gasps and cheers in the background it’s a softer side to the abrupt mannerisms I usually see or on the receiving end of. It’s funny there’s just none of that harshness amongst country folk. Their manner is the total opposite gentle and friendly and open. The puppies keep staring at me!!!! I may have to share my last bicky with them. It’s a shame the fog was so heavy today because you could see the karst hills on the horizon but only just. It would be spectacular if clear but honestly I was just happy it wasn’t raining. That’s a good day. Still chilly but good cycling weather. The road conditions were very crap but given the volume of heavy vehicles traveling into and out of Hanoi it’s no wonder. I spent the majority of the day navigating through the potholes and gravel on the road fringes and that kept the brain turned on that’s for sure. It’s only 8.30pm and I’m already ready for bed. I love it-quiet, fresh country air it always makes me so sleepy. OK I’ve created puppy monsters this side of the world too. One bicky is never enough!!!!!! Well at least I have company until they realize the packets empty. Time for bed. Card are getting very colorful so I may leave them to it. It was a good day so good night fine folk. Talk soon x I had decided last night that a safe and sound day for Rube and I was a good day and anything else on top a bonus. It shifted my approach to the day thinking back on it now. A bit better perspective to relax into I think and that’s a good thing. Like my big sister said recently, ‘try not to let it get too under your skin, there’s still a long way to go!’ Pretty spot on I reckon, thanks Kit x

Day 73 1007 days to go. Distance: today 105km total 4271km. It’s 6.30pm Saturday 11/2/2012 Thanh Hoa. Hi hope the Staurday finds ou all happy and in a good place. Today has again been rainy and the road conditions a bit crapola. It’s so evident we’re getting closer to Hanoi with the volume of people and road traffic increasing over the course of the day. One positive is that there was little headwind yay so gave the brain a chance to deal with the other which was appreciated. Earlier on was more of he farming land that has dominated the landscape in between towns. It’s very open and flat and rice paddies as far as the eye can see. People are skin deep in water a resiliantly planting new harvests in a weather. By the roadside are the workers parked mopeds and bicycles and they are literally head down and wet bottoms up busy at it. Some stop and check out the passing cyclist for interest sake and others great us with a huge wave and ‘Oy.’ This is the prefered term of greating amongst folk. It’s taking me a litle to get used to but it’s meant in a positive way despite sounding very abrupt. Woman and men alike use it to get attention and it works 🙂 Earlier on I passed this young fella using a beautiful big cow to pull the plough he was using to dig fresh rows and plant more corn. He had the loveliest smile and I stopped to watch him hard at work. He stopped and I went down to the field to say hello and meet his huge workmate. The lad was so shy but happy to have interest in what he was doing. I told him how clever he was and he got that I was being friendly but he was all shyness so I left with a handshake and happy to have stopped. The landscape started to change with limestone hills appearing amongst the fields. It looked great in the mist. I had a break and watched this mother and baby cow walking a path in front of the brown coloured hills. They blended so beautifully and with the green and mist is looked cool and was a nice chill out time between the kms. The architecture of the homes are becoming classic french colonial mixed pastels and state of decay. It’s odd having such grand style buildings as farm houses. The towns are more urban sprawled with the same style homes and indicative of the top end of Vietnnam from what Ive read.Hanoi is very much french colonial and it’s showing early signs as we get closer. We’re less than 200kms away from Hanoi. I’m doing a side trip out to the Cuc Phuong National Park and looking forward to enjoying it’s wildlife reserve and natural environment campng if I can. I checked out google maps tonight and there appears to be two alternative roads out there with terrain pretty flat on both options. We’ll see tomorrow on the road but I should get there tomorrow or Monday depending on distances. I passed rice fields today with that familiar sound of croaking frogs cool I love that sound reminds me of home when it rains and the creeks run. The frogs go off and have a mating frenzy. You often see white herons busy poking about the paddies I imagine looking for the source of croaks 🙂 They must also get into the rice shoots as there are regularly makeshift scarcrows propped up in the fields. They look great dressed in old shirts and hats on a t-shape stick to add to the effect. My next stop today was brief as this woman stood nearby gesturing I thought for me to eat but it ended up she wanted money to buy food. I offered to share my lunch but she wanted cash so I politely said no and left. We’re staying on the outskirts of Thanh Hoa close to where the highway continues on tomorrow. Ninh Binh is only 65km away and it’s north of there where limestone karst country starts again. Ive heard from other cyclists I’ve met theat the area is beautiful north of here so looking forward to seeing how it unfolds tomorrow. Toniht I’ll upload the photos from the last days and find an ATM to get some cash out if it turns out we can get to the National Park tomorrow. That’s about it for tonight. Not sure what sort of internet access I’ll have over the next days but I’ll keep posting and upload them when I can. Talk soon x

Day 71 1009 days to go. Distance: today 89km total 4106km. It’s 5.35pm Thursday 9/2/2012 Vinh (16km before). Hi there. It’s an early post this evening which is something new. I had hoped and tried to have a skype date with my partner this afternoon. I was aiming for Vinh but wasn’t going to make it for our 3.00pm date so I stopped at a small town 16km before and have no idea the name of the town where I am. I looked for a guest house with wifi but no luck even the main hotel here didn’t have it. I had to laugh the hotel had 2 prices one for Vietnamese another for non locals which was double ($10 vs $20). Not surprising but cheeky nonetheless. Anyway I was leaving with my bottom lip out for Vinh then spotted an internet cafe and thought yes!!!!!!! I went in and checked they had skype which the lady said they did so found a hotel and headed back in time for 3pm. Unfortunately they didn’t have skype and I tried to download it but the connection was so slow and it didn’t want to download bugga bugga bugga bottom lip out again. I tried to download my photos but again it was taking over 3 minutes per photo so I gave up. Just checking email sent the computer into conniptions so I have no idea whether my emails go through sorry family. I paid my 5000 dong (25c) and exited. You can’t pick the places that are going to have access and made me realize how lucky Ive been so far getting access when I needed it. Rubes was sooooooooo muddy from the last 2 days so I found a hose and cleaned her up as best I could so hopefully she’ll run a bit better tomorrow. She was grinding this afternoon with all the glunk in her important bits so she should be in a better state to tackle tomorrow weather permitting. This morning was raining so the roads were wet and muddy and we arrived this afternoon looking a right messy girls. The lady at the internet cafe was frowning at my appearance still in my wet weather gear from the day and looking a right treat I’m sure. She even asked if I was a boy or a girl. For goodness sake I wasn’t that covered in mud or so I thought. When she wasn’t reading my emails over my shoulder she was frowning at my nose ring so after the hour I was pretty happy to be out of there. Her father even joined in phonetically sounding the words mmmmm. They found it very entertaining but after the skype muck up and disappointment I was less than impressed and it was safer for everyone for me to exit :-). She did give me a twinky cake which sweetened the frown. I have been asked for money by no less than a dozen people since arriving all adults including the internet lady. I’ve been approached by children but not adults so it caught me a bit off guard. After cleaning Rubes I was white fingers cold. The guest house had hot water yay. It only lasted a few minutes but it was nice while it lasted and the first hot shower I’ve had since Hue. I had spent most of the day pretty focused on getting to Vinh by 3pm and was just short at the end of the day. I won’t do that again as it makes the day tougher than it should be and it doesn’t allow room to deal with the conditions. I was too mindful of the time all day and it takes away from being open to and enjoying the moments. Another good lesson learnt how more enjoyable the day’s ride is when I stay in the moment. No surprises there in hindsight 🙂 It’s also so important to keep a sense of humor and stay light and easy. The people are very unique as far as they can be so friendly but also very abrupt in manner and in your face and personal space. It’s common to be yelled a ‘oy’ which sounds really aggressive and rude but it’s just their way of greeting. The usual initial response to me and Rubes is to laugh or stare or both. I mentioned before that I’m so used to being gawked and laughed at. When I misplace my sense of humor this gets so under my skin and I know it. Many moped riders just ride alongside or just behind and watch us eeeeek. Those who want to chat or try are great and it’s fun to exchange the usuals: ‘where are you going? what is your name? Where are you from? Do you like Vietnam? Do you like Vietnamese people? This young lad yesterday cracked me up. He was on the back of a moped and they pulled alongside and he asked straight up, ‘why?’ In the rain and wind and cold my reply was ‘That’s a good question my friend!!’ and we laughed together highly unlikely he understood what I said but I think he got the message. My sister emailed me that it is -30 in Germany currently so me saying it’s cold when it’s probably 8 to 10 degrees seems a bit silly in comparison. I was watching CNN on satellite TV the other night and the news reported people dying from the extreme weather across Europe. I can’t fathom those sort of temps. My brains struggling in these temperatures. I get so uncoordinated getting on/off Rube in the breaks it must look like I’m handicapped or been nipping on a hip flask. I so don’t do cold. I’ve been working on putting on some more reserves but as soon as I start into the cycling again it drops offs. It’s a bit tricky to keep the calorie intake up during the day as it doesn’t work so well having too much food in the belly with the output. Instead I eat at least twice during the night when I wake and looking for snacks. This seems to be working ok for now. I’ll have to rethink how this can work as it starts to get cooler now heading north and into China so I’ll give that some thought. Probably more protein and fats will do more the trick changing what goes in as opposed to carb quantity. This stuff’s a bit boring but it’s interesting and important and I knew it was always going to be a challenge as I’m a grazer and not a quantity eater particularly when being really active. I suppose we’re all unique that way. Did I tell you I got an email from the young Vietnamese lad Thanh thanking me for my visit and how much they enjoyed their time. How cool is that? I was going to email him back tonight but given the internet debacle I’ll look forward to that tomorrow. I’m also keen nto upload the photos as I know they’ll be looking for them. That was one of my favorite times spent so far in Vietnam. I had a bit of a crap sleep last night waking up allot thinking about the yuck during the day. So tonight will be an early one. Some of the hotels have satellite tv including the one I’m at tonight. I’m not a tv watcher at all but have got into one channel which is called ‘Fashion TV.’ It reports fashion shows around the world in particular Malan, Paris and Brazil. It’s an interesting no brainer. I’m like a kid and get the Vietnamese stares up at the pretty clothes, models and tunes 🙂 That’s me tonight under the doonah after some dinner. I’m feeling sooky la la after missing our date this arv so it sounds like the place for this sorry butt butt to be. Talk soon x 

Day 70 1010 days to go. Distance: today 98km total 4017km. It’s 7.20pm Wednesday the 8/2/2012 Ky Anh. Hey cracked the 4000km mark yay!!!! I was emailing with a friend of mine recently and she commented that I was ‘living the dream.’ Today was a reminder that there’s lots of reality bite marks in that dream. That said it is a dream with respect to the experience good and not so and every precious moment in between. Following on from yesterday’s cool stuff, today was quite a horror. In perspective I’m safe and dry and warm and healthy and that’s what counts to do it all again tomorrow. But in all truth it was a horror and happy now to be talking about it in past tense. Rube and I headed off positively this morning despite the drizzle and chill. But the conditions soon deteriorated and were pretty much the worst I’ve come across to date. Again I’m sure there will be worse to come but mother nature was cranky and took it out on her weather. It drizzled then rained all day and it was cold cold cold with a wicked head wind and gusty yuck. The road was also crappy and the heavy traffic all wanting to get to where they were headed full on. Not a nice mix. I kept myself covered to avoid exposure stuff creeping in so got through the kms eventually after 10 hours. Later morning it was time for calories and since I had run out of lunch stuff I decided to stop and a roadside cafe. I dined on rice and lots of greens mostly broccoli and it was really yum delish and hot. Unfortunately they charged a stupid amount which I hadn’t expected so I blew them a raspberry (on the inside) while I handed over the 50 000 dong and got under way again with a happy belly and a slightly pi$$ed off wallet. I got some good picks earlier on of some village homes and folk literally head down bottoms up in the rice fields. I must say I was pretty happy to finally arrive here late this arv. There’s only a handful of places to stay but found a decent hotel for $8 which is great because the only other option was $20 which I wasn’t keen for. The first place was a total total dive and he was asking $ 10. I don’t think so!!! And the other place was full so where I’ve ended up is prety good considering. No hot water but the right price and clean so we’ll deal. Emotionally I had a tough one. I was passed a handful of times by this truck overloaded with caged pooches squashed ontop of one another and soo distressed by their yelping. I have no idea where they were destined but it wasn’t a good place. The truck stopped twice only to pass me again on the road so three times was enough and I howled along with the puppies. I could only wish for them a better time of it next time around. It was crap and cruel. Then I saw these two men on a moped with a hog tied pig on the back. If that wasn’t tragic enough for the pig they then stopped for a smoke and rolled the pig off onto the ground while they fagged on. It was crying. Again so crap and cruel. I can’t fathom how people who are supposedly buddhist minded can treat any life with such disregard. It’s hopefully only a small % of people but it seems to be ok when it so isn’t. The experience has left me even keener about visiting Cuc Phuong National Park as a positive example of Vietnam’s commitment to wildlife protection and conservation. The NP is 45 km north of Ninh Binh. I plan to camp there in 6 or 7 days time. When the rain got heavy earlier on I stopped at a cafe to put on the full wet weathers and it was empty bar the woman running the shop. She was really friendly and happy for me to use her cafe to get my gear on out of the weather. Then this man arrived and soon after they were in an attached room having sex and by all accounts for his pleasure not hers. It made me feel sick. It was really helpful to have had such a great day yesterday that I could focus on while riding as this stuff’s not good to replay in the mind during the long hours. It’s good to put these events out there and I understand it’s not my grief but it’s definitely reality bite marks. On a positive Rube and I did really well today both working hard and happy with ourselves to get through the day’s conditions safe and sound with working bits intact. It was interesting watching the folk in the rice fields. They were knee high in water and rain and it must have been so cold. When I stopped to take some photos a few of the folk were laughing calling me over to lend a hand. I let out a huge ‘no’ and gave them the thumbs up for how amazing they were. They were all smiles and a great example of resilience 101.Two young girls left the fields and came over to say hi and check out both of us. They were really excited to meet us and friendly. I gestured they must have been cold but they said no and were just happy to meet and greet and happier still to get their photo taken. They would have been no older than 14 or 15 and working hard for the little money honey. I didn’t feel so bad off cycling off in the rain and them stepping back into the water. I’ve been looking into options for sponsorship through the blog with awesome help from my family (xxxxxxxxx in particular my brother-in-law thankyou Marcus). This program looks like a good option. It’s a world wide family based program that helps orphaned children by relocating them with new ‘mothers’ in a community where they have access to basic needs including education. 100% of donations go to the sponsored child with administration costs absorbed by the company through volunteer work. Have a look and see what you think? There are SOS communities all over the world including Asia and the countries I have travelled to date http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk -That’s me for tonight’s post. Time for a pot full of two minute noodles and bickies for desert. Thanks for listening. Talk soon x

Day 69 1011 days to go. Distance today 95km total 3919km. It’s 7.40pm Tuesday 7/2/2012 Dong Hoi. I’m slowly getting some feeling back into the fingers they were a bit chilled after today’s ride drizzly fog and chilly headwind all day such a contrast to yesterday. More forecasted for tomorrow bugga. Despite that I’ve had a great day very very fun. The countryside was beautiful very rural lots of agriculture and farming friendly folk and villages to cycle through which i loved. The province is really healthy with allot of farm work evident in the quality of the agriculture. The word that came to mind was ‘orchestrated’ meaning how well orchestrated the farmed land appeared mostly rice fields intermittent with mixed greens. The villages and farmed land just looked so cared for and healthy it really stood out the synergy they have with the land working for them at best. What added to the harmony was singing frog croaks so loud echoing across the fields. This is the first time Ive heard this addition they must have been loving the weather so frog sex was on big time. 🙂 The villages also seemed to be doing allot of net fishing in the deeper water paddocks amongst the rice fields. I saw lots of men thigh deep dragging nets through these paddocks cross farming with fish amongst the paddies. The water must have been so cold the resilient folk. The farmers and herders don’t hesitate to flash me a smile and wave and big hello its really humbling how hard worker but happy and welcoming they appear. I passed lots of school children today cycling mostly to/from school. About 40km into the ride these 3 school children were heading home from their morning session. They were traveling the same direction as Rube and I and were so keen to have a chat. We cycled about 5km together chatting away their english was excellent. Their names were Thanh, Li and Phuong all 17 year olds in year 12 their last year of high school. Thanh is a young man the other young ladies. Thanh and Phuong want to study economics either in Danang or Ho Chi Minh next year and Li wants to be a police officer but says its very hard to be accepted. The told me lots about Vietnamese schooling. There’s primary, secondary and high school. High school students go to school 7 days from 7am to 11.15am and from 3.00pm to 9.00pm full on. They cycle to/from school in between to have lunch and a rest in between Li lives 6kms from school and Thanh and Phuong 9km. Li invited us all back to her home for lunch which I totally accepted how gorgeous. I met her sister who is 15 years old and goes to seconday school and wants to be a doctor. I also met her mum who is 42 years old and a seamstress selling her clothes in a stall in the village. Her dad is in the army and they gave me a army hat as a gift. Lunch was rice, fish, omelet and white bait and greens soup seated on a mat on the floor. It tasted so fabulous and they were fun and generous hosts. I stayed for about 2 hours and loved loved loved every interesting moment. We spoke further about their schooling and were very interested in my gadgets particularly the Ipod and camera. Thanh told me he really liked Mac computers but that they were very expensive in vietnam. He also loved the bike saying ‘I like Ruby’ to which I said ‘I like Ruby too mate.’ She’s gloating again tonight 🙂 They had a new puppies soo cute that they hadn’t named yet and asked me to name her. So their pup’s called Ruby and they love the name and so happy she’s named after our girl!!!! Another reason she’s gloating. They were all very bright young folk and very keen about their education and wanted me to explain about their schooling in my blog. They are very excited about being included in the story and photos for today’s post. We exchanged emails and they are going to email me to practice their English and keep in touch. They have one set of holidays during New Year just gone. Schooling costs $50 dollars for the year each and they said that university costs the same. I’ve heard it costs $200 so I’m unsure if this amount was per term. I wasn’t able to clarify this clearly with them. We got lots of visitors over lunch with neighbors popping in all curious and keen to join in on the lively chats and giggles. I had such a good time in their company it was fun fun and I was dragging the chain to get going. It was actually Thanh who got me going. He wanted me to go also to his house and Phuong to hers but I needed to do the rest of the kms for the day so gave my most sincere apologies and cycled with them back to their homes. Highlight highlight highlight 101 for the day and I was smiling despite the weather for the next 60kms. Probably not the last 10km 🙂 I was a bit bone chilled by then and looking forward to getting out of the weather. Dong Hoi is a large city and it took me a while to find a hotel ending up here about 5.30pm $10 for the night. There’s a rooftop terance where I enjoyed a coffee when I got here and was able to send my spot check. The hotel’s got wifi so I could check email and have some good suggestions for the sponsorship but more about that over the next days. For now it’s time for dinner and an early night. Talk soon x Great day yay warm and fuzzy now 🙂

Day 68 1012 days to go. Distance: today 72km total 3824km. It’s 5.07pm Monday 6/2/2012 Dong Ha. I woke up today and could not believe the weather. It’s beautiful, clear, warm, no wind. Awesome!!!! The fella who runs the guest house I stayed at in Hue was so accommodating and helpful. He wasn’t working yesterday but I was happy to see him at reception this morning to thank him for helping Rube and for his trouble. I was talking to Ma and Pa about this yesterday and how Leslie had told me that Ruby would tell me when she’s needing attention so to listen to her when she does. I think snapping a brake cable is a pretty loud hint what do you think? I’m sure she knows I need a sure fire blunt message sometimes 🙂 The other thing I think is interesting is Ross from Spin City Cycles Mooloolaba who helped me set up Rube said that her cables will need changing every 4000kms. How spot on was he. Thanks Ross you’re a jet!!!! Back to the post. The beautiful day gave Hue a shine so I stopped for a few more pickies on the way out. It was a very sociable 72 km ride to Dong Ha and I did it in one hit with a guzzle of water half way. A friend of mine who’s right into cycling and running gave me a handful of power gels that were amongst my care pack from home and I tried one for the first time after I finished up today yum. It tastes like condensed milk double yum. It was 2.00pm when we got in this arv so I tossed up whether to keep going or stay. While I was sitting there contimplating this lady came up so friendly and so wanting to talk. No English didn’t stop us talking about travel and cycling and how much she wants to travel and see Australia. I initially thought she was taning to sell me something. How wrong far from it and a cool time spent with a cool lady. After this time I realised I can get on such a roll thanks to that wicked virgo drive but I’m slowly getting there’s a time and place. So I stepped off the mouse wheel and stopped for the day and I’m so glad I did. Dong Ha is situated on a river and on first appearance seems nothing too much. It’s quite dilapidated. The place I’m staying has friendly staff but is a tired cold French style building much like the rest of town. It’ sgot a balcony on top which I checked out over a coffee and could see over the town. It isn’t that big and seemed to be centred on an covered area near the river which I decided to check out after a clean up. All right the little boy sitting next to me playing video games smells of pee. Focus Maree 🙂 Where was I…. OK.. It’s the right price at $5 so I’m happy. I cleaned up and headed into town mainly to find an internet café but thought I’d first have a look around. I crossed over the river and spotted house boats on the water. What was cool was that one had the tiniest of budhist shrines on top very cool. In the centre of town on the river is the biggest undercover expanse of market I’ve come across yet. Isn’t that awesome. It has everything from wares to jellyfish and the people are low key, down to earth workers very interested in this tourist. I don’t think they see too many stoppers 🙂 I spent 3 hours just wondering and talking with anyone interested in having a chat. Most of the stall folk I just scared off but some were curious enough to share some giggles with me. I got some really great photos and loved checking out the market Mecca. The fish market was so assorted and interesting. It’s the first time I’ve spotted jellyfish and squid but there was such a variety it was cool watching the locals eagerly browsing their seafood ingredients. . Phew smelly knee high eeeeek. After the market I rode around the rest of town and found a small supermarket so stopped for a fetish hit. I found a pack of caramelized chewy nut bars for 13000 dong so bought 2 for snacks over the next days ($1.20). I had to have a taste test on the steps out front and sat there people watching for a while which is my favorite end of day past time. I was keen to find an internet café. I think I’ve worked out what issue I would like to support by raising some money for. I’m at the end of the Southeast Asian part of the itinery. One issue that has been across the countries is the lack of education priority for girls given limited income families. Boys will get first priority if schooling is an option so to create schooling opportunities for girls that would otherwise not have seems like a pretty good cause to support. We spoke about this issue with the folk in Hoi An so I’ll look into it and do some googling around information and options. From what I’ve heard there’s a program here in Vietnam that you can support and it costs about $200Aus per year to sponsore a girl through school. I’ll keep you posted re this issue but I like the cause and how it’s presented itself over time. That was my initial idea to let sponsor opportunities evolve as I travel and I think this ones a good place to start. What’s your thoughts? Any info you may find on the issue please don’t hesitate to send. The photos have finished uploading so I’ll finish off there and attach them to this blog and have an initial google on the topic. Talk soon. It’s been a good day and nice to appreciate the fine fine weather. x